1. Ознакомьтесь, что означают следующие слова и словосочетания

engineering – техника; технический, конструкционный

engineering metal – конструкционный металл

engineering construction – техническая конструкция (сооружение)

engineering material – конструкционный материал

construction – конструкция, сооружение; строительство

wood – дерево

wooden – деревянный

that is why – вот почему

at all – совсем, полностью

part – часть, деталь, изделие

metal part – металлическая деталь

machine part – деталь машины

to desire – желать

desirable – желательный

to work – обрабатывать

working – обработка

to shape – придавать форму, обрабатывать

shape – форма, конфигурация.

2. Прочтите и переведите на русский язык следующие предложения с новыми словами

1) We use engineering metals in industry.

2) Iron is a very important engineering metal.

3) All machines consist of metal parts.

4) A machine is an engineering construction.

5) All machines and engineering constructions consist of metal parts.

6) Stone is hard and strong. Its hardness is great, but stone is brittle, not plastic.

7) Stone was the first engineering material.

8) People began to use metals after stone and wood.

9) Metals are much stronger and harder than wood.

10) It was difficult to find metal in the earth and produce an engineering material.

11) Only metals have a combination of useful engineering properties: hardness, strength and plasticity.

12) Some metals are strong and hard. Other metals are soft and plastic.

13) Plasticity of metals is very important.

14) Engineering metals are used in the form of alloys.

15) The properties of alloys are better than the properties of pure metals.

16) Strength, hardness, plasticity are the properties of metals.

17) Metals form the most important and largest group of engineering materials.

3. Переведите предложения, обратите внимание на различие в переводе слов «because» (так как, потому что) и «because of»(из-за)

a) Ferrous metals are widely used because they are cheap.

b) Pure aluminium is seldom used because of its low hardness.

c) For a long time people used stone as a constructional material because they did not know how to produce and how to use metals.

d) Metals have great importance because of their useful properties.

4. Прочтите текст, чтобы ознакомиться с его общим содержанием Текст е metals as engineering materials

People began to use metals after wood and stone, but now metals are more important for our industry than these two old materials.

Metals have such great importance because of their useful properties. Metals are much stronger and harder and that is why some engineering constructions and machines were impossible when people did not know how to produce and how to use metals. Metal is not so brittle as stone which was the first engineering material for people. Strength, hardness and plasticity of metals are the properties which made metals so useful for industry.

It is possible to find some very plastic wood, but it will be much softer than any metal; stone may be very hard, but it is not plastic at all. Only metals have a combination of these three most useful engineering properties.

But it is much more difficult to get the metals from the earth in which they are found than to find some stone or wood. That is why people began to usе metals as engineering materials after stone and wood. The first metal which was produced by people was copper; iron was produced much later.

It is known that metals are very important in our life. Metals have the greatest importance for industry. All machines and other engineering constructions have metal parts. Some of them consist only of metal parts.

About two thirds of all elements found in the earth are metals, but not all metals may be used in industry. Those metals which are used in industry are called engineering metals. The most important engineering metal is iron (Fe) which, in the forms of alloys with carbon (C) and other elements, finds greater use than any other metal.

It should be noted that engineering metals are usually used in modern industry in the form of alloys because the properties of alloys are much better than the properties of pure metals. Only aluminium may be largely used in the form of a simple metal.

So we see that metals form the most important and largest group of engineering materials because they have desirable mechanical and physical properties, can be easily worked into various shapes.